The present invention relates to an air conditioner and, more particularly, to an air conditioner having a drain tray for receiving dew drops deposited on the surface of an evaporator.
In an air conditioner, generally, air is cooled to a temperature lower than the dew point while heat is exchanged between the air and an evaporator, especially during cooling, so that dew drops are deposited on the surface of the evaporator. A drain tray is disposed below the evaporator for receiving the dew drops. The dew drops are deposited during the cooling process and have a low temperature. Thus, a drain tray for receiving the dew drops and a drain tube for exhausting the dew drops from the drain tray to the outside are cooled by the dew drops itself, and new dew drops are deposited outside the drain tray and the outer circumferential wall of the drain tube. These new dew drops can overflow onto the floor of the room in which the air conditioner is installed or the carpet on the floor, can cause rusting of the box body of the air conditioner or rot the wall near a hole through which the drain tube extends.
For these reasons, an air conditioner 10 has been conventionally constructed in the manner shown in FIG. 1. According to this construction, an evaporator 14 is arranged in the vicinity of a supply opening 12 of the air conditioner 10. The evaporator 14 functions to cool the air drawn through a suction opening 16 by the operation of a blower 18. A drain tray 20 for temporarily storing the dew drops dripping from the evaporator 14 is arranged below the evaporator 14. A drain tube 22 for draining the temporarily stored dew drops to the outside of the air conditioner 10 is connected to the drain tray 20. Heat insulating material 24 surrounds the drain tray 20 and the drain tube 22. Therefore, the drain tray 20 and the drain tube 22 are heat-insulated by the heat-insulating material 24 such that the coldness of their outer surfaces cooled by the dew drops is not conducted to the outer surface of the heat-insulating material. The deposition of additional dew drops on the outer surfaces of the drain tray 20 and the drain tube 22 due to the coldness of the dew drops already collected is thus prevented.
However, a large amount of the heat-insulating material 24 is required for achieving sufficient heat-insulating effects. It thus follows that this heat-insulating material 24 provides a great disadvantage for achieving a compact air conditioner 10. Further, since the heat-insulating material 24 is disposed around the drain tube 22, its outer diameter becomes large. Thus, the hole formed in the room wall for connecting the drain tray 20 to the outside from the room in which the air conditioner 10 is installed must be made larger so that the installation requires much labor. Further, an extra process is required for attaching the heat-insulating material 24 to the drain tray 20 and the drain tube 22, thus increasing the manufacturing cost.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner which is capable of preventing the deposition of the dew drops, on the drain tray and the drain tube so that energy conservation and greater compactness may be obtained.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner comprising a device body having a first air channel and a second air channel which are provided parallel to each other and which communicate at one end with a supply opening of the device body and at the other end with a suction opening of the device body;
blowing means housed in said device body for introducing air from the outside into said device body through said suction opening, for separately passing the air through said first and second air channels, and for exhausting it outside said device body through said supply opening;
an evaporator disposed in said first air channel for cooling the air passing through said first air channel;
a first drain tray disposed below said evaporator for receiving dew drops formed on the evaporator and falling therefrom and thus for containing the resultant drain;
a second drain tray disposed below said first drain tray for receiving dew drops formed on said first drain tray and falling therefrom and the drain overflowing said first drain tray;
said second air channel being defined between said first and second drain trays, the dew drops which fall from said first drain tray and the drain which overflows said first drain tray to said second drain tray being heated by the air passing through said second air channel.